Boulder Bound + Life Is For Saying Yes

Summer is for bounding. Leaping through the country, exploring new places, and growing more in to who you’re meant to be. I have so enjoyed this summer. From travels, the marathon, spending time with friends, and being able to be with family, it has been quite a wild ride. It’s been a glimmer of such a sweet season of happiness and excitement.

If I could choose a word for this month, it would definitely be sweet.

This coming week, we begin school, (eek! How did we get to this point in time?!) As we finish, I keep thinking back to this summer. The three months we’ve been out of school have been quite enjoyable. It’s been a summer filled with an “Anything is Possible” kind of feeling.

It’s definitely been a season of Joy-basking in the warmth of summer days and enjoying all it’s had to offer.

This has been the first summer in a long time that’s been pretty worry-free. If you know me, you know I’m a worrier. I get bent out of shape sometimes by the silliest things. I worry about the Dentist’s appointment (which I rightfully had a reason to worry since I had two fillings this week…definitely need to work on my flossing…), being able to move everything in to my classroom before the start of school, and also being able to fit in a million other things before…when, exactly?

But this summer has taught me to stop. Slow down, enjoy the moment, put down my phone, (which amazingly enough, only causes me more worry), and actually be present. Enjoy jumping near the Boulder Flatirons, making bad jokes, and laughing too hard. These laughing pictures definitely exemplify the joy of this summer.

At the beginning of the summer, I told myself I’d be on top of my blog, writing posts and publishing them three or four days a week, dependent on if I had a WILTW post on a Saturday or not, and I’d be present on Twitter and Instagram on a regular basis.

While I was fairly consistent on my blog posts, I wasn’t always consistent on my Instagram and Twitter accounts. And why? Because I was out enjoying the summer. I learned it was okay to put down the phone for a day or two and just enjoy life.

Summer is meant to be enjoyed. It’s a time to put aside the worry and just embrace life. It’s like God is giving us a whole three months to rejoice in the sun.

Even though I had all these goals for how I wanted to grow my blog this summer, it turned in to the moment when I realized that my blog can only grow when I grow, because really, my blog is a reflection of me.

If I’m not going out and enjoying the world, then this beautiful blog space I’ve put so much time in to, will only plateau. It won’t go anywhere. But if I’m out in the world, hiking, spending time with people, watching the sunrise and sunset, then I’m not only emotionally helping myself and giving myself permission to enjoy life, but I’m also letting readers in to that ray of sunshine.

This is so true for so many aspects of our lives.

If we only focus on one specific area of our lives, then we’ve grown in that area, but we’ve neglected in other parts of who we are as a person. We’re forgetting all the different facets of what makes us, us.

God has given us hearts and mind to grow. He’s granted us the ability to love, learn, explore, and feel. We may as well take advantage of that.

So taking a step back from the computer screen has helped me this summer. It’s given me more passion for this space, an excitement for designing things and a greater appreciation for interaction on this inter-web.

Recently, one of my dear friends decided to take a leap of faith. She decided to follow a path which was very different than she was expecting, and in the end, she ended up being so much happier about her life.

Life is for saying YES.

It’s for taking chances and dreaming big and being willing to chase after your dream. We can so easily be caught up in the worry of each day, constantly stressed by the obstacles that may come our way, when in reality, there’s so much that the world has to offer. So address what is making you stressed. (Maybe this means writing about it, reflecting on it, talking to someone, or just putting whatever is worrying you to the side. Sounds bad, right? Well just remember, most things aren’t worth worrying about.) Instead of worrying-Remember that day dream you had so long ago? Well do something to work towards it and make that dream come true. The time is now.

Now you may laugh because I had just heard a report on our local Christian radio station this morning which talked about how people who worry live longer. So ironic considering I’m trying to eliminate worry in my life. However, the reasoning they explained, behind this, was because those people worried about their health and were on-schedule with going to the Doctor’s office and Dentist’s office. So really, not the worst thing in the world to worry about!

My point is…don’t let your fear or worry stop you from going after your dreams. Keep living and working towards them.

“Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game.” – Babe Ruth

I have a few dreams that I want to keep working towards, such as being published, working with design elements, and traveling. I’ll share more as I keep working towards them, and for now, I’ll keep taking jumping pictures and exploring new parts of this world.

But I’m genuinely curious…what are some of your dreams? Is there any way I can support you on your journey to making them happen?

Comments

I used to teach 7th grade Language Arts and Spanish, and I remember that feeling of the school year starting up again…on the one hand, I adore fall weather and pretty much everything to do with the season, and I’m naturally a more routine-oriented person, but man, it was still always a little hard to say goodbye to the lazy days of summer and have to jump in to the classroom again!

It’s been pretty interesting to see as I’ve gotten older which dreams of mine have intensified and which have lessened in importance to me. Right now, in this stage of life I’m in, I’m less about pursuing dreams “out there” and more about establishing the happiest home I can for me and my family, but those dreams that I have are still there—they’re just germinating 🙂 At least that’s how I like to think of it!

I am a fifth grade teacher!
Yes! It is so hard to say goodbye to summer. The summer days are too wonderful.
I think that’s such a good dream to follow along with. Creating a place of home is huge! I’d be excited to hear more about those dreams!

I love what you said there about your blog can only grow if you grow. I so agree! We’ve got to give ourselves grace and room to grow. My dream is to make writing my career (in whatever way I can do that.)